A STICH IN TIME

Taylor Pobst, 8, watched her mother, Tina, sew buttonholes on a shirt in her sewing room in Chaffee.

Though the age of one family member stitching every garment owned by loved ones is long past, many still find satisfaction in crafting clothing at home.

The individuality that can be expressed through selecting the pattern and the material for a project is key to sewing's appeal; yet, no woman wants her home-crafted garment to appear homemade.

So, what's a some-time seamstress to do?

A first step could be realizing that accomplished sewing techniques are not learned overnight. "It takes practice and patience," advised Tina Pobst of Chaffee. Pobst, an at-home mom and a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant, is an avid sewer. She makes garments for her family and for herself.

Gail Hessenkemper of Cape Girardeau encourages novice seamstresses to try their hand at garment making. "Don't be afraid to try," said Hessenkemper, whose sewing business involves primarily alteration and special-occasion work. But professional results shouldn't be expected at the first whack, she advised.

Besides providing shopping assistance, some local fabric and sewing-related shops offer ways for those interested in sewing to learn more. In classes and in clubs, novice and experienced seamstresses improve their skills.

"Women are involved in it (sewing) for a hobby and for something they enjoy for the creativity, more than they're doing it because they have to in order to save money like our mothers did," said Corena Miller, co-owner of The Sewing Basket. Pattern manufacturers, too, are adapting their wares to consumer's needs. Many patterns emphasize ease and require only a short time for project completion.

Equipped with a machine that functions properly, sewing can be stress relieving, said Jane Koch, manager of Golden Needle II, and besides that, it's practical. "I don't know how a household makes it without a basic sewing machine," Koch said.

That practicality encompasses other aspects, too. For example, noted Darla Stow, manager of Hancock Fabrics in Cape Girardeau: "You'd be surprised about how much money you can save by sewing for your kids."

Saving money and the prospect of children were involved in Pobst's turning her attention to sewing.

Pobst remembers shopping trips shortly before the birth of her now 16-year-old daughter: "I'd go out looking for these clothes, and I'd think, 'Gosh, I think I could do that.'"

She tapped into lessons she had learned from her mother and through a high school home economics course and began making clothing for herself. Soon, she was making dresses for her new baby. Pobst was hooked.

Innumerable garments later, she still finds excitement and satisfaction making clothing for her herself and her family, which includes her husband, Mark, daughters Jessica and Taylor, and son, Ryan.

"I just love to sew," Pobst said, "I'd rather sew than most anything." Two sewing machines, a serger, an ironing board, and a large cutting table are among the tools Pobst keeps at the ready in her sewing room.

But even the most accomplished seamstress can run into a snag. "I've made an outfit and put it on and thought, 'ick,'" admitted a chuckling Pobst.

Keeping a sewing project on track begins long before scissors touch fabric. Preliminary decisions have to be made, and that includes a realistic assessment of body type.

"Look for something that's going to flatter your figure," Hessenkemper urged. Secondly, "only get fabrics that are appropriate for your pattern." Advised fabrics are usually listed on the back of patterns.

"When people are unhappy with dressmaking it's usually because they've picked something wrong for their figure or the wrong fabric for that pattern," Hessenkemper said.

The next step is often overlooked. "If you have a garment you are going to launder, you should prewash your fabric before cutting out your pattern," Hessenkemper said. "So many people have made things they love, only to have it shrink."

Adjustments to patterns must be made before the fabric is cut. "I measure directly on the pattern and I compare it and make any adjustments," Pobst said.

She also advised: keep the sewing machine cleaned and oiled; make sure machine needles are appropriate for the material and are in top condition; keep scissors sharp; have good lighting in the sewing room; keep iron handy and press at every designated point.

When problems occur and tension builds, Pobst said, "get up, walk away, go do something else and then come back to it."

Fabric shops typically anticipate the change of seasons well in advance of temperature changes, stocking their floors with spring materials when winter is still blowing cold. Imagination is, after all, an important part of successful sewing. "With a little creativity sown in," Stow said, "you can make something out of basically nothing sometimes and still look like a million dollars -- just like Scarlett O'Hara."